Firm That Ended Work With ICE Over “Values” is Working for Turkish Dictator Erdoğan

Turkey's President Erdoğan can act more like a dictator than a president and has been labeled an "enemy of press freedom" by Reporters Without Borders.

By NTK Staff | 10.05.2018 @11:28am

McKinsey & Company, a management consulting company, announced earlier this year that it would stop working with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) because the agency was at odds with the company’s “values.” Now, McKinsey is working with Turkish Director Recep Erdoğan.

In July of this year, Kevin Sneader, the firm’s managing partner, wrote in a letter that the company “will not, under any circumstances, engage in any work, anywhere in the world, that advances or assists policies that are at odds with our values.” Sneader’s letter came after employee backlash that McKinsey had done $20 million in consulting work for ICE.

Last week, though, the Turkish Ministry of Treasury and Finance announced that the government will work with McKinsey, “which would quarterly analyze the progress achieved in reaching targets set in the New Economic Programme.”

“The decision was heavily criticized by the members of the opposition parties, who said that hiring McKinsey aimed to implement an IMF programme without the IMF.”

“A new office has been established and given the responsibility of transforming Turkey’s fiscal management in accordance with the target of ensuring fiscal discipline, the Ministry said in a statement on Saturday. Only public servants will work within the new office, it also said.”

Turkey’s President Erdoğan can act more like a dictator than a president and has been labeled an “enemy of press freedom” by Reporters Without Borders. Known by its French acronym RSF, Reporters Without Borders have said that Erdogan hides his “aggressive dictatorship under a veneer of democracy.”

Despite McKinsey’s claims that they would not engage in any work that is at odds with their values, some of their other clients also raise questions.

According to McKinsey’s website, 30 percent of McKinsey’s clients in greater China are state-owned enterprises, and 10 percent are Chinese government and non-profit organizations.

In June of this year, the New York Times detailed McKinsey’s scandal-plagued foray into South Africa, which involved an illegal $700-million contract that is still under investigation by South African officials.